


Win the Battle to Lose the War

by Leonawriter



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Canon - Manga, Gen, Manga Spoilers, Yukio Awakening
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-17
Updated: 2014-04-19
Packaged: 2018-01-19 18:14:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1479292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leonawriter/pseuds/Leonawriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And in a moment, he was lost. But the cost if he hadn’t been would have been more than he could bear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He'd expected to arrive to find a ferocious battle taking place, his brother engulfed in blue flames and his opponent...

Well. Not having the upper hand, for one thing.

Rin's sword was out, but his flames, despite his anger, were flickering at a dangerous low. His clothes were torn in several places, and there was evidence of several serious wounds. He was struggling to get up again, even though his determination clearly wouldn't let him stay down for long.

A quick scan of the area showed him that Suguro and Konekomaru were also beaten up, but they weren't being targeted... for the moment, at least. Shiemi was nearby, turning her attention away from Izumo, who was also badly injured, hidden from view by some control panels.

Shima, the traitor, was standing on watch but relaxed, over by the door, K'rik resting over his shoulder. His pink-haired old student wore a serious expression as he watched the 'fight' going on in front of him, something that was still jarring after the easygoing attitude they'd become used to from him.

But then, this wasn't the Shima Renzou they'd thought they'd known. Regardless what his brother and the others wanted to think.

" _Damn... you...!"_

Time slowed for Yukio as he saw Lucifer kick his brother back to the ground as dispassionately as if he weren't worth wasting any more time on.

"You were right," Lucifer was saying. "Distract the brother, weaken him with the guards, and he's no bother. It's almost a shame. I'd expected more. And still he won't give up... perhaps we will have to kill him after all."

_Stay hidden. Wait for the right moment, then strike._

The words repeated in his head at times like these became white noise in the face of what he was hearing, what he was seeing.

_Nii-san...!_

Rin grunted, and blinked, wincing in pain even as the new injuries tried to heal themselves.

"Yu...kio..."

_"So if your brother happened to disappear... I wonder what you'd have left."_

He was supposed to be an Intermediate First Class exorcist. Not an amateur with no experience who didn't know how stupid it was to rush in with no plan, no back-up, no weapons that would do him any real good...

But that was exactly what he found himself doing.

One bullet cracked the mask Lucifer was wearing, but the material was strong enough that it didn't break yet - and after that, the demon was aware of his presence, and all of the bullets were either dodged, or simply did nothing anyway.

_"You..."_

His vision blurred blue as he snarled, and he wasn't sure if it was a repetition of what had gone before, or that Rin, still close by, had flared up around them.

_"You GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!"_

The world exploded. Later, he'd say that he wasn't thinking at all, but it wouldn't be the entire truth. The truth was that he was  _terrified_ , but also  _furious_ , both at the same time, his arm lashing out to hit the target, the one trying to kill his brother, almost as though he'd forgotten he even still had a gun in his other hand.

Lucifer was sent flying backwards, the look of shock in his eyes visible even through his mask, and the expression made Yukio _smile_ -

_Ignore the way your teeth are sharp, how they're pointed, you can worry about that LATER_

-something that also worried him, but at the same time, worry over how much he was enjoying this was overridden by the need to deal with the situation at hand.

His vision was still blue, but now he could realise and understand that it wasn't because of his eyes, but the fact that there was fire coating him, all around where he stood, as though he were a human bonfire.

He took steps away from his position, putting himself between Rin and Lucifer, Rin behind him, facing away from Suguro, from Konekomaru, so that he couldn't see Shiemi's reaction to what he'd become in his rage.

 _I'm not going to hurt any of them. I just want to kill_ this _one._

_…_

AN: And there it cuts off for me because it’s almost as though the Yukio muse for the idea blacks out like Rin does when he loses control.

And I don’t know how to end it other than that. I might expand it into a two-shot with the aftermath at some point if I get the inspiration, though.


	2. Chapter 2

_"We’re going,"_ Okumura-sensei had said, and in such a way that _no one_ had been brave enough to argue. _"And we will be taking both Izumo Kamiki and Shima Renzou with us."_

He’d wondered how well _that_ would go, but then again… there was what their young teacher had said _afterwards_.

_"Any opposition to our departure will not be tolerated."_

Shima Renzou shivered. For a guy just as young as the rest of ‘em, Okumura-sensei could be downright _scary_.

Of course, they’d ended up leaving. And he’d gone with them.

"Sh- Shima! Shima Renzou! What do you- _where do you think you’re going?”_

He turned around, to find the boss panting in an effort to catch up with them. It wasn’t as though they were even going all that fast, and they weren’t even out of the building yet. But what with all the trouble the others had put the Illuminati through, he wasn’t surprised she was out of breath.

"Er… going with them?"

He jerked his head in the line’s direction, just in case she hadn’t noticed.

"So you’re _defecting_ _?_ Is that it? You’re _ordered_ to stay behind!”

Hm… what was it to be? Orders, or-

The hairs on the small of his back stood on end, and he turned around slowly. He was right, damn it. Yukio had turned around. Not an easy feat for any normal person with an unconscious guy on their back, but hey. Sensei _was_ a demon, now, wasn’t he?

"And just… what do you think you’re doing?"

The guy wasn’t even shouting. Damn, if anything, he sounded _calm_. But that just made it _worse_.

"Eheheh…" he started backing away. "S-sorry, boss… but I really don’t want to die~"

The choice between an angry boss and even an pissed off Illuminati where he could potentially still make things work to his advantage, against the choice of staying and becoming roast Renzou? No contest.

Shit, at this point, he was hard up to decide if even bugs would give him better odds of survival. At least bugs didn’t burst into flames and start turning insane. And likely to kill you.

Oh gods no, actually, _don’t_ think about that. Anything else. _Anything._

…

"Yuki-chan…?"

They’d made some progress. By now, they were making their way through the forest they’d come through to get there, and it wouldn’t be long and they’d be in the Inari shrine tourist trap again.

Yuki-chan was at the front of the small procession. Shiemi was right beside him, even though she was limping slightly still from having her ankle bruised several hours ago. The pace being set was slow enough for her to keep up and not feel the pain too badly, and Yukio himself was carrying Rin, who’d blacked out around the same time Yuki-chan had protected him from Lucifer’s attack.

She still felt guilty, at having been helpless to do a single thing for Rin. She’d only been able to help Izumo, who was following just behind them. Again, when they’d needed her the most… she hadn’t been able to pull through.

Behind Izumo were Suguro, Konekomaru, both closely watching Shima, who… wasn’t fighting. None of them trusted him, and they all expected him to be up to _something_ , but so far, he hadn’t shown any sign of fighting back. He was just… following. Because Yuki-chan had said so.

"Yes, Shiemi-san?"

And yet, Yuki-chan himself acted as though nothing was wrong, when he was talking to _her._ Even though she knew that wasn’t true.

"You… you _worried_ me back there. Please, _please_ , don’t do that again!”

For an instant she was sure she saw a flash of rejection, fear, something else… and then it was covered up and he was _smiling_ again. How? _How_ could he smile at a time like this?

"I’m sorry, Shiemi-san. I showed you my ugly side again, didn’t I…"

"That- that’s not what I meant!"

He almost stopped, shocked by her outburst enough to lose his footing for a moment.

"I… you _scared_ me, Yuki-chan! But I wasn’t scared _of_ you… I was scared _for_ you! You just went in back there and you didn’t know whether anything you did would work, or if anyone else would be coming, you… you were so _reckless!_ _”_ Her eyes stung as she remembered, even as she looked up to find him staring at her, eyes wide. “You… you could have died, he was so strong, if he hadn’t been weakened and caught unawares… please, don’t do that again!”

"You don’t have to worry, Shiemi-san. I’ll… be more careful, in future."

"You’re doing it again!"

"E-eh…?"

"You… you smile at me, but you… you’re shutting me out again. And the truth is - Yuki-chan, you’re really important to me! No matter what you think of yourself, I- I don’t want you to go somewhere we can’t follow!"

He didn’t say anything.

He wasn’t saying anything, and all she could think of was how she’d tried to get him to open up to her, to relax, just come to the dance, and he’d said ‘no’, smiling, and pushing her away…

_Yuki-chan. Please… please don’t do that to me again._

"Shiemi-san…?"

She looked up so quickly she nearly tripped.

"Y-yes?"

"Thank you."

She smiled back at him, brightly, tears still in her eyes. In the end, it didn’t _matter_ which of the twins she liked in _that_ way. If either of them were hurting, she’d do whatever she could, anything in her power, to help them.

The look in his eyes when he’d said ‘thank you’, even just _that_ , gave her strength.

…

"Bon… what’s going to happen to us now?"

The question had been hanging in the air for a while now. Ever since, in fact, their teacher had turned into a demon and attacked Lucifer.

 _Lucifer_. The _Demon King of Light_. Sure, he might’ve been weakened already, but… Okumura-sensei had…

And more than that, he’d been _terrifying_ while doing so. He didn’t think he’d ever been more scared of a person since Okumura-kun had gone berserk in the forest that one time.

They’d seen their teacher get angry before, but never, _ever_ … like _this_.

"I don’t know."

Bon was scowling just as badly as he had been before they’d gone in, if not worse. He was also now carrying Shima’s K’rik… just so Shima couldn’t use it himself.

It still felt weird. Expecting Shima, who’d grown up with them, to act against them like that. Even after he’d _betrayed_ them.

Knowing that if Shima tried to do anything, Okumura-sensei, Okumura-kun, Kamiki-san and Moriyama-san were all depending on _them_ to make sure he couldn’t, and to make sure they were warned.

"Is… d’you think Okumura is going to be all right?"

He wasn’t sure which one he meant.

Okumura Rin was still in pretty bad shape - and that was saying something, seen as he was a demon, and he’d seen with his own eyes how fast his classmate could heal. In fact, the one other time he’d blacked out like this was after he’d taken on the Impure King itself… while he still thought they all hated him.

"How the hell should I know?! They’re damn _idiots_ , both of them. They’re both as bad as each other!”

Which was… well, _true_. They just hadn’t known it before.

At least… not like this, in _these_ ways.

He couldn’t help but remember that time when Okumura-sensei had explained to them how he and his brother were the sons of Satan… well, his brother, really, because he’d left himself out of it. And who could blame him? With something like that… and with Okumura-kun possibly sentenced to _death_ …

Still. Konekomaru clearly recalled their teacher saying that he’d inherited none of the blue flames of Satan. That he’d been tested daily. But if that was the case… then what had they seen back there? And how… how was he seeing all of this? His teacher had the same ears as his brother… and out of the bottom of his coat, he was sure he could see something _else_ that set him apart as non-human.

 _What else has he lied to us about_ _?_ One part of his mind asked. Whereas, on the other hand… hadn’t he said back then that Okumura-kun hadn’t known himself up until a few months before?

 _Just how much do either of_ them _know, anyway?_

The thought was depressingly morbid in the conclusions it could allow him to come to. All of which had little to no proof for them.

"I… I wonder what the Vatican is going to do…"

He didn’t realise he’d said it aloud until he noticed both Bon and Shima staring at him. One made him embarrassed at having been caught saying his thoughts aloud… the other made him incredibly uncomfortable, just from knowing he had his attention.

“ _Nothing_ , if they know what’s good for them,” came the snarled response from Bon. “Sensei’s still an exorcist, and a damn good one at that, no matter what else he is. If they can’t see that…”

He looked ahead of them, at where sensei was carrying Okumura-kun, and saw that he was talking with Moriyama-san. It seemed like he’d relaxed, too, which was good. And then he felt guilty for feeling relieved, because he realised that, just like with Okumura-kun before… he’d been _scared_.

…

He woke up to the sound of people, and immediately assumed that it couldn’t be anything good.

As his vision blurred into focus, he realised slowly that the pain that had been nearing unbearable before had dulled. His sword was sheathed again, and it was lying right next to him. All right, maybe not so awful after all. He _might_ be wrong, but…

"So you’re awake at last, are you? And here I thought you’d end up needing to be woken up before we got on the plane back to the academy."

He blinked. That voice…

"Izumo? You’re here too?"

"You’re _hopeless_ , you know that? _Yes_ , I’m here.” There was a pause, during which he wondered if, maybe, he’d simply misheard her and something awful was, actually, going on. “So are the others.”

He let out a sigh of relief. If the others were there, then things were either fine, or they could work through it. Either way, it wasn’t a bad place.

"Thanks, Izumo…"

"Gh- don’t ‘thanks’ me! I’m the reason you’re in this state, and your brother-"

She cut herself off, and looked away.

"Eh? What? Yukio… is something wrong with Yukio?"

He couldn’t remember. The last thing he knew was of fighting and losing to Lucifer… or that’s what he _thought_ had happened, anyway. There’d been blue light, like he’d been able to give it one last shot before going down, and that was it.

"You really don’t know, do you?" She sounded odd. Tired. Like she was trying to keep up the unaffected look because it was cool or something. Well, he knew what _that_ felt like, at least. He couldn’t really fault her for it. “Hn! It’s not like it’s my place to say. Looks like you’re going to have to wait and see for yourself.”

Voices… he could hear people, coming up close outside the waiting room he and Izumo were in. Was that… Shima? And Suguro?

And then, that was _definitely_ Yukio. And he sounded _pissed_ , regardless that Rin couldn’t quite make out what he’d been saying. The door opened, and they came through clearer.

"Shiemi-san, could you…? Thank you. We’ll be back out in a minute."

 _Something’s wrong_.

He’d been able to tell from the way Yukio’d been speaking. And now, there was something just… _different_ about him.

His brother’s coat had been torn in several places, and blood had seeped through, staining the black material, but even then Yukio was still wearing it even though the others weren’t wearing _their_ uniforms, from what he could tell.

He didn’t seem to notice that Rin was even awake already until their eyes met, and when they did… why was he flinching away like that?

The skirt of Yukio’s coat twitched.

"Nii-san, I- how are you feeling?"

Rin scowled, not liking the idea that something was being  _kept_ from him.

"I’m going to be fine. We’re all good, right? Izumo’s with us, and I heard Shima outside, so that’s gotta mean…" he trailed off at the serious look on his little brother’s face that was getting darker with each additional thing. "Speaking of, Izumo said something weird about you, but she wouldn’t explain…!"

He noticed Shiemi glance at Yukio, saw her bite her lip but not say anything. Saw Yukio shake his head at them.

"It’s- nothing."

_"Like hell it’s nothing!"_

Yukio pause, hand stilled on the door handle.

"If you’ve been hurt, if something’s _wrong_ , then I’m your big brother! _You should be able to tell me!”_

Yukio flinched. He _didn’t_ just imagine it.

"Nii-san, I…"

"Oh, why don’t you just _tell_ him already?” They both jumped, and yet again, he noticed that weird twitch under Yukio’s coat. He’d almost forgotten that Izumo was still here. “He’s going to find out sooner or later!”

_Find out…?_

Yukio still wasn’t saying anything, and Rin’s anger started to abate in favour of needing to know what it _was_ that had his little brother like this.

"Yuki-chan…"

Although, if he were honest with himself, he already knew the answer.

"Yukio, you… you’re… what _happened_ back there?”

Yukio hesitated still, avoiding looking at him.

"You almost died," he said shortly. And left.

…

AN: And… I don’t know where I’d go after that.

The scenes needed to focus on at least two characters each, and it fitted together quite nicely. Each character had different things they’d be preoccupied with, different priorities and ways of thinking.

I also ‘accidentally’ ended up slotting in two of my series pairings, and what _may_ have been an accidental _confession_ in one scene… WHOOPS.


End file.
